Up and away this morning back through the Thuringian forest to Weimar. Home of Bach, Goethe, Schiller, Liszt et al. Another beautifully laid out historical town with a plethora of old buildings. This morning we went out to the Schiesshaus. Built in 1805 in the forest as the headquarters of a local shooting society. Wikipedia says it was abandoned but i would imagine the DDR … Continue reading Weimar

Coach trip across the beautiful countryside to Eisenach where Bach was born and Martin Luther spent most of his childhood. Continue reading Eisenach

I finally arrived! I retired to bed (noticing that my room gave onto the main road and, I discovered in the morning, the delivery spot for the hotel) and leaped up all ready to do justice to the breakfast buffet in the morning. Hotel breakfasts are usually tempting and it is very difficult not to pile your plate high. Cake! Bagels! Obscure German sausages! Mühlhausen … Continue reading Mühlhausen

Arrived in Konstanz which is a lovely town on an isthmus surrounded by lake. Very few miles from the Swiss border. As it is a tourist town, there was a selection of hotels, although the one I chose had reception on the 8th floor! The reason became apparent in the morning. The evening I arrived, the kind ladies from Martin Randall had told me they’d … Continue reading The story continues

Well hello to my small and select audience. Apologies for the long pause between posts but if you don’t go anywhere or you go somewhere you’ve been several times before, it feels difficult to come up with scintillating publishing. I am writing this on the morning of Monday 4th September, on a train. In southern Germany. I am supposed to be having a genteel breakfast … Continue reading Avoiding planes may not be worth it

This evening we are off back to the UK but this morning we went to see Victor Hugo’s house where he lived in exile. He had been a member of National Assembly but objected strongly to the advent of Napoleon III and was, accordingly, exiled. He spent time in both Belgium and Jersey before coming to Guernsey but this is the only house he actually … Continue reading Last day in Guernsey

Today we were supposed to go to Sark but the wind got up and the boat couldn’t go. Instead we pottered about , Sherry had a massage, I went to the museum and we went on a tour of a cider farm. The cider orchard is local and organic but actually owned by Thatchers. We were shown round the orchard, had the principles of how … Continue reading More Guernsey

This is a small island, part of what we call the Channel Islands and the French call Les Isles Normandes. They are very close to the French coast and came to the English crown when William the Conqueror combined England with the Duchy of Normandy. For some reason, they never went back. We are staying in a very nice hotel at the top of the … Continue reading Guernsey

Staying in a basic but very nice hotel run by a young couple who seem to work all the hours god sends and are very cheerful and helpful. Bless them. So many tourists go to Mont St Michel that there is a car park and a shuttle across the causeway. You can also walk but the only cars allowed are those of the residents and … Continue reading Mont St Michel and back to the UK.

Again, apologies for the late posting but yesterday’s took SO long with both dodgy Wi-Fi and 4G, that I fell asleep before I could do anything else. We went to Bayeux to have a look at the Bayeux Tapestry (not made in Bayeux and an embroidery not a tapestry but hey….. it was made in the 11th century so we are just grateful it’s still … Continue reading History!